DAVID LARKINS, Wesmen Athletics

Looking to keep the good vibes going from an opening-weekend sweep less than a week ago, the Winnipeg Wesmen never found proper footing and took their first loss of the season Thursday night. 

Emma Parker and Ashleigh Laube both had double-doubles, but the Wesmen women's volleyball team dropped a 3-1 (26-24, 17-25, 25-21, 25-23) Canada West conference decision at the Duckworth Centre. 

Parker had 14 kills and 17 digs, and Laube added 13 and 11 for the Wesmen, who swept Regina last weekend and will now look to rebound Saturday afternoon at U of M. 

Keziah Hoeppner had 18 kills and 15 digs for the Bisons, who were playing their first match of the season. Ella Gray had 13 kills.

Looking to get back into the match and force a fifth set, the Wesmen looked in control of Set 4 with a 19-15 advantage. The Bisons, however, got back-to-back kills and an ace from Katreena Bentley to cut that lead to one. 

After an Emily Yaeger kill made it 21-18 in favour of Winnipeg, the Bisons tore off three straight to tie the set again. The teams would trade side outs and the Wesmen led 23-22 before Manitoba went kill, ace, kill to close the match.. 

The Wesmen hit .209 for the match and held Manitoba to .174, including Hoeppner's .350. 

Libero Taylor Cangemi, playing in just her third career match, set a new career-high with 13 digs for the Wesmen.

The two teams meet Saturday at 1 p.m. at U of M.

—#REPTHEW—